Nascar Racing Online

Archive for the ‘Ranting and Raving’ Category

I will never understand NASCAR’s policing of its drivers.  Carl Edwards gets a three race probation (only in the Cup series too) for deliberately wrecking Brad Keselowski in last Sunday’s race at about 190 mph causing Keselowski to get airborne and fly into the outside retaining wall and catch fence upside down landing hard on the driver’s side A – pillar.

Officially Edwards was found to be in violation of Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing – aggressive driving) of the 2010 NASCAR rule book. 

Now granted having Keselowski flying through the air with the greatest of ease was not what Edwards intended to happen, all he wanted to do was just spin Keselowski out and into the grass but unfortunately things at 190 mph don’t always go as planned.

Mike Helton explained NASCAR’s position regarding this incident;  “We made it very clear to [Edwards] that these actions were not acceptable and did go beyond what we said back in January, about putting the driving back in the hands of the drivers.  I believe [Edwards] understands our position at this point.”

Helton went on to explain;  “I think first of all, I’ll go back to the fact that we parked Carl as soon as the [Atlanta] incident occurred, for the balance of the event,” Helton said. “You can look back at the incidents at Homestead [Denny Hamlin wrecking Keselowski, Tony Stewart wrecking Juan Montoya] where it was a one-lap penalty.

“So the immediate reaction [to Edwards' move] from NASCAR was parking the car for the balance of the event. That in its own can be a serious reaction from us, I think. The balance of it, I think, will still have to be sorted out among the drivers as to what their opinion or their interpretation of all of this is.  - Dave Rodman nascar.com.

My initial response to the three race Sprint Cup only probation and NASCAR’s explanation of it was;

“Oh come on Mike (Helton) there were like what, five laps left?  And Carl only lost one position due to his ‘parking’ because he was so many laps down anyway.  Yep that’s a harsh penalty.  I can see how that makes a significant impact on Carl in the standings, man he is going to suffer because of that (said with much sarcasm).”

Please Note:  Expletive content has been edited for publishing.

So let me see Carl was running about 38th when this happened and lost only one place as a result of being parked which cost him 8 driver points while Brad was running 5th when Carl hit him causing him to finish 36th and potentially losing Brad 105 points. 

I’m sorry, I feel that the punishment does not suit the crime here.  I understand that NASCAR wants the drivers to work these things out, but come on even parents who want their kids to solve their own issues between themselves need to discipline their children when they cross the line so they know right from wrong.

I’ll conceed to what Aarron had to say in that Edwards has lost more than points in the court of public opinion, especially with the fans, is a more than fair assessment of this mess but what kind of message does NASCAR’s ruling send to the other drivers?  Go ahead boys hit each other all you want as long as you don’t intend to send each other airborne, hurt each other, etc.?

Standards must be set and examples must be made, but in this case low standards were set and an ineffective example was made.

As I said the other day; “Which is it going to be?  Have at it boys or Have havoc boys?”

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ATLANTA – MARCH 07: The wrecked #12 Penske Dodge, driven by Brad Keselowski, sits in the garage after an incident on tack during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7, 2010 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

There is no mistaken what Carl Edwards did today to Brad Keselowski was a big no no in the eyes of anyone watching the race including NASCAR but what kind of penalty is he going to face as a result?

Well Keselowski wants Edwards parked for at least one race, which seems possible but unlikely in my opinion.

Why?  Sponsorship dollars.  Think of the lost revenue by not having the Afflac, Scotts, (name of other sponsors here) car in the race.  Certainly if I were a sponsor of Edwards I would not be pleased that my car was not in the race with my driver behind the wheel.  Of course the 99 car would be in the race, but not with Edwards behind the wheel.

In fact I might just be so upset that I would pull all of my television advertising from the race too which would mean a loss of revenue for NASCAR and FOX.

Get the picture?

So what would you do?

Looking at Edwards’ past history might help NASCAR’s decision, so let’s do that.

1)  In 2006 Carl was wrecked on the last lap while leading at MIS in an incident caused by eventual winner Dale Jr.  After getting fresh rubber Carl went back out on the track and crashed into the driver’s side of the Dale Jr’s car while he was on his cool down lap and while Jr had his hand out the window.  He was given a fine and put on probation.

2) In 2006 Carl retaliates on Tony Stewart for a bone head move Stewart did earlier in the race and Carl spins out Tony while entering pit road for caution period pit stops while pit crew members were over the wall on pit road.  I still have problems with this one even though Carl claimed that he spun Tony away from the pit crews, but Tony could have easily lost control of his car and went in a totally opposite direction.

3) Carl has an altercation in front of cameras with teammate Matt Kenseth after a race where Carl threatens physical aggression on a stunned Kenseth.

4) Carl and Kevin Harvick get into a shoving/wrestling match in the pits after practice – it is reported that punches were exchanged between the two.

These are just off the top of my head too, there might be more.  I do believe that Carl and Busch got into it in Bristol one time, but I’m also sure Busch started it.

So what to do now that we’ve established a bit of ‘history in payback’ as it were?

Look at similar cases;

1)  Kevin Harvick was parked for a Cup race for his actions in a Truck race at Martinsville involving the late Bobby Hamilton.

2)  Ted Musgrave was parked for a race because he went back out on the track and wrecked Kelly Bires after being more than 100 laps down because of an altercation with Bires that caused him to be down that many laps.

3)  Kevin Harvick and Jamie MacMurray are fined and put on probation for banging bumpers on each other.

and the list goes on.

So what now?

Well Dustin Long thinks NASCAR should just fine him a ton of points so its like he has been parked a race.  Not a bad idea really.

Nail him hard so that it is like he missed a race.  I’m OK with that, but I think I might just take it a bit further.

I’d nail him a minimum 200 points and park him a race too.  If they can fine Carl Long 200K for a large motor in an exhibition race then they can fine Carl 250K for overly aggressive driving with the potential to injure other drivers (look at the A-piller on Keselowski’s car – man he is lucky it didn’t collapse any more) as well as spectators.  Then I’d fine Roush/Fenway racing for not controlling their driver, make them take some ownership too.  Roush would get hit with the same amount of point and dollar fines.  Also, I’d make the 99 car ineligible for the next race regardless if they had a different driver in the car.  They can run a different number on the car if they want, just not the 99 so they can’t collect Owner Points either.

Harsh?  Yes.  Unfair?  Maybe.  Unrealistic?  In the world of NASCAR yes.  But if you don’t make an example now then what’s next?  I mean the precedent of a one race suspension was set with Musgrave when, under similar circumstances he deliberately drove into Kelly Bires at Martinsville which is a short track where the speeds are about 1/2 they are at Atlanta, and Bires’ truck didn’t get airborne.

Some of you may think that I’m just saying this because I’m not an Edwards fan, well you have your right to say that, but based on this history and the precedents already established by NASCAR I’d be saying that about any driver out there that would be in Carl’s shoes at this moment – even Dale Jr.

Now don’t get me wrong I’m sure Carl had no intention for Keselowski’s car to get airborne and I’m quite sure that he regrets doing what he did to Brad and if I had thought otherwise I would have said so and made the punishment even more harsh.  We all do stupid things everyday, and we all must face the consequences of our actions – intended or not – and a NASCAR driver is no different in my opinion.

There’s “Have at it boys” and then there’s “Have havoc boys” – which is it going to be and at what cost?

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Hey all.  Today’s open race thread is going to be a little different in that I’m going to provide you with the link to Jeff Gluck’s open race thread too.  Feel free in posting either at Jeff’s page or here, or even on both, which is what I’m going to be doing at times throughout the day.

Jeff and I are still working out this open race thread thing.  To be honest with you I haven’t returned Jeff’s email on the topic from Wednesday as I’ve been really busy this week so the ball is resting in my court on this as it were.  We’ll have it all sorted out by next week for sure. 

Anyway, look for the complete starting line-up after the jump.  See you on the other side (and at Jeff’s page too).

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED	TIME	BEHIND
1	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Amp Energy / National Guard	192.761	28.761	Leader
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M’s	192.280	28.833	-0.072
3	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	192.106	28.859	-0.098
4	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	HendrickCars.com / GoDaddy.com	191.814	28.903	-0.142
5	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	National Guard / DuPont	191.774	28.909	-0.148
6	9	Kasey Kahne	Ford	Budweiser	191.688	28.922	-0.161
7	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Tornados	191.549	28.943	-0.182
8	19	Elliott Sadler	Ford	Hunt Brothers Pizza	191.436	28.960	-0.199
9	00	David Reutimann	Toyota	Aaron’s Dream Machine	191.186	28.998	-0.237
10	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Scotts	191.087	29.013	-0.252
11	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Miller Lite	191.054	29.018	-0.257
12	47	Marcos Ambrose	Toyota	Lance Snacks / Tom’s Snacks	190.935	29.036	-0.275
13	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	U.S. Census	190.850	29.049	-0.288
14	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Valvoline	190.791	29.058	-0.297
15	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Office Depot / Old Spice	190.692	29.073	-0.312
16	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools	190.640	29.081	-0.320
17	6	David Ragan	Ford	UPS	190.574	29.091	-0.330
18	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	BB&T	190.561	29.093	-0.332
19	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	190.548	29.095	-0.334
20	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Office	190.424	29.114	-0.353
21	71	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	TaxSlayer.com	190.267	29.138	-0.377
22	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	190.221	29.145	-0.384
23	98	Paul Menard	Ford	CertainTeed / Menards	189.987	29.181	-0.420
24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker	189.915	29.192	-0.431
25	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	Insignia / Best Buy	189.857	29.201	-0.440
26	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	Red Bull	189.798	29.210	-0.449
27	66	Dave Blaney	Toyota	Prism Motorsports	189.590	29.242	-0.481
28	12	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Mopar / FLO TV	189.571	29.245	-0.484
29	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	The Home Depot	189.189	29.304	-0.543
30	36	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	Wave Energy Drink	189.144	29.311	-0.550
31	13	Max Papis	Toyota	GEICO	189.112	29.316	-0.555
32	82	Scott Speed	Toyota	Red Bull	189.079	29.321	-0.560
33	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	FrontRowJoe.com	189.060	29.324	-0.563
34	21	Bill Elliott	Ford	Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center	189.021	29.330	-0.569
35	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Shell / Pennzoil	189.015	29.331	-0.570
36	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	Mobil 1	188.970	29.338	-0.577
37	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Charter Air Transport / Taco Bell	188.341	29.436	-0.675
38	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Companies	187.958	29.496	-0.735
39	7	Robby Gordon	Toyota	Warner Music Nashville / Blake Shelton	186.403	29.742	-0.981
40	34	Travis Kvapil+	Ford	Long John Silver’s	185.430	29.898	-1.137
41	37	Kevin Conway+*	Ford	Extenze	184.812	29.998	-1.237
42	26	Boris Said+	Ford	Sacred Power / Southern Pride Trucking	182.916	30.309	-1.548
43	55	Michael McDowell	Toyota	Prism Motorsports	188.758	29.371	-0.610
Did Not Qualify
44	09	Aric Almirola	Chevrolet	Phoenix Racing	188.066	29.479	-0.718
45	190	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	Juice Air Fre sheners / SmellMyCar.com	187.678	29.540	-0.779
46	46	Terry Cook*	Dodge	Whitney Motorsports	186.122	29.787	-1.026

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie

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  This week Nascar heads to Atlanta. Following final practices most drivers are usually very active on Twitter. Here is what they had to say

jpmontoya had a difficult practice car not great today, gonna have to work on it a lot for tomorrow…

maxpapis  I feel good from practice even if speeds where not incredible we improved the car step by step

jamiemcmurray  Need to work on our car for tomorrow

BrianLVickers  Made some gains today. Car was good in practice. Had a good debrief and chat with the guys today.

Regan_Smith_  still struggling this weekend, just cant seem to get this place figured out….

dennyhamlin had a pretty good set of practices today.. i feel like we have made good progress. trivia tonight at 7pm est

Mc_Driver  Car was pretty good in happy hour.

AJDinger Insignia best buy ford was decent during practice. Need to make the right calls tomorrow for setup and guess the track right.

Should be a good race.

Remember you can follow along with the drivers here:

NASCAR Ranting and Raving’s NASCAR Driver Twitter List

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Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, poses in Victory Lane after qualifying for the first position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway via nascar-assets.americaneagle.com -  Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR.

Its been what, about 67 races since Dale Earnhardt Jr won his last pole position?

He’s just like his Dad. 

Dale Earnhardt wasn’t the best pole winner either, he just concentrated on set-up more than anything. 

As long as he qualified in the top 20 he was fine, and he had the past Champion’s Provisional to make sure he was in the show each week as they didn’t have the Top 35 Rule back when Dale Sr was driving.  And he had to use that past Champion’s Provisional a time or two too.

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Hello Friends and Fans!

I realize it has been a while, and I apologize for not keeping you updated better lately…   We have been busy here at Ricky Byers Racing, still trying to rustle up our primary sponsorship to get out on the track and make a difference by RACING FOR A CURE!

Ricky Byers Racing is very grateful to the associate sponsors who have already come alongside us in our endeavor to take a stand against cancer, including a new brand with which we are currently discussing partnership.  Watch for a possible announcement about this exciting news soon!

Know that we have not given up, fans!  Far from it!  We have an entire team of dedicated folks hard at work trying to cover all aspects of achieving the goal to get me out there on the track to do what I know best…   racing!

It does get frustrating, and I do have to fight being discouraged a lot of the time.  I don’t understand why it is so hard for some corporation to see what a win-win deal this is.  A proven driver, in the good equipment of well-respected, long-time car owner Andy Belmont – who has been nothing short of spectacular in his gracious support of our attempts to secure funding for his ride – should be a no-brainer.  With the media draw of my story alone, now that they will look for “real” stories, not to mention all the promotional activities we have planned in our sponsors’ names; why, the brand recognition available through Racing for a Cure with Ricky Byers alone is a Victory Lane of its own.  There is a company out there waiting for just this opportunity to showcase their brand…   and we will find them.

In the meantime we have another exciting promotion we want to share with fans right now.  Prilosec OTC currently has a program to vote for your favorite potential Prilosec OTC spokesperson!  So all you Ricky Byers fans out there need to go to http://www.officialsponsor.com/  and cast your vote!  Just enter ‘Ricky Byers’ in the search window, and then click on “Cancer Survivor Race Car Driver.”  Vote and then leave a comment to let them know how much you believe we deserve to win and be awarded the sponsorship!  Thanks, fans!! You can go back each day and vote!  Every little bit helps!

Another endeavor we are currently involved with is a diecast replica of the Daytona test car.  Friend Chip Perkins created a remarkable 1/24 scale duplicate of the Corrie Stott car we ran as fast as 8^th quick at the test in December ‘09.  Action Diecast would be my choice if I were to have them made in quantity, and I would surely like to use them for promotions toward Racing for a Cure…  but at 1,000 minimum to order, I’m afraid that unless I get some more positive feedback, I might have to wait a little while on this project.  People seemed to balk at spending the money for charity when I brought it up on my facebook page.  Well, when we bring a primary sponsor on board, everything will be different and we can move forward with these items unencumbered.

Well, for now, I want thank you all for your faithful support, your prayers, and your loyal friendship on this journey.  You are all very much appreciated.

Check out the video I have posted below from a local news station interview last winter, and don’t forget to go vote at the Prilosec OTC page!

Till next time, this is Ricky Byers Racing, wishing you all good health and God speed!

Fox 6 News Interview

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It was announced earlier this week that NASCAR will now tear down the engine from the first car that drops out of a race that was not involved in a wreck on the track.

Why is NASCAR doing this?  In my opinion it is to cut back on the number of start and park teams.

Start and park teams are those that go to races with the purpose of making the race and then parking the car after running a few laps.  The reason why teams do this varies, but it essentially boils down to money.

Some teams can’t afford to pay for tires and a crew so they go and make the race, park the car, and collect the prize money and hopefully if they do this enough times they can afford to compete in a future event for the whole race.  Or another reason is just to collect the prize money with no intention of re-investing it into the team.

I mean last place for this year’s Daytona 500 paid $261,424 – that’s waaay more than I make in a year (make that waaay more than I make in multiple years).

Start and park teams have been around since NASCAR was formed, this is nothing new but the spotlight has been shining on them lately – especially now since starting and parking has become openly discussed in the media by the drivers.  You can even read about it on Twitter.

With television ratings on the decline ans sponsors hard to find I can see whay NASCAR wants to keep all 43 cars on the track for as long as humanly possible because a race is much more interesting with all 43 cars on the track at the same time.  Start and park teams may also give the image that NASCAR is fixing the race by having cars pull off the track in order for certain driver to finish higher in the standings.

Also, NASCAR wants to be able to attract sponsors for race teams and why would a sponsor want to be on the side of a car that only runs 20 laps before the infamous rear gear goes south.  If I were a sponsor I’d want my name out there in front of the crowd and on TV for as long as the race is broad-casted on TV and if I see a lot of cars starting the race and then disappearing why would I want to throw my advertising dollars at these teams or series?

Another assumption about all of this is that some of these start and park teams may be going with an ‘illegal’ oversized engine to get into the show and then pull off to get their prize money without fear of NACAR tearing the engine apart of the last place car, which they don’t regularly do.

So what NASCAR could also be trying to do is catch these guys cheating (or at least keep them honest).  One has to no further than to look at a year ago when NASCAR tore Carl Long’s motor apart and found it to be illegal.  He got nailed with a $200 000 fine and it was only an exhibition race too.

The punishment benchmark has been set by Carl and NASCAR would look pretty foolish to let anyone off with anything less than what Carl got no matter who the driver is.

I think what NASCAR is doing with this new tear down rule is good for the sport and should be applauded, assuming of course that curbing the number of start and park teams is really their intention.

What do you think?

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Wendell Scott (middle) via Motorsports Images and Archives at nascarmedia.com.

I know this is just a press release and that I usually just put the press releases on the NASCAR Related Press Releases section of the site and not on the Front Page, but I think this is a significant event. 

I wasn’t born yet when Wendell made his first start, but I wish I was able to see it.  There is a movie about Wendell staring Richard Pryer called ‘Greased Lightning’ that I think is good.  If you want to find out a little bit more about Wendell I suggest you rent the movie.  I know it is a Hollywood version of Wendell and what he went through, but I think it is a more accurate stock car movie than ‘Days of Thunder’.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 3, 2010)– In honor of the anniversary of African-American racing trailblazer Wendell Scott making his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, vehicles competing this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway will have a commemorative decal baring the image of Scott.

Scott made his first start in NASCAR’s premier series on March 4, 1961 at Spartanburg, S.C. On Dec. 1, 1963 in Jacksonville, Fla., Scott became the first African-American to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup event, a distinction he still holds.

To further recognize the occasion this weekend at AMS, Sybil Scott, daughter of the late Scott, will be in attendance as will NASCAR Drive for Diversity competitor Jason Romero.

Romero was last season’s winner of the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award, given annually to a female or minority driver in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series who personifies excellence on and off the race track.

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It’s time for Nascar to do away with its ”free pass” rule.  The reasons for its creation no longer apply.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with how this rule came about, here’s a quick review.  (The rest of you can skip the next paragraph.)

Back in 2003, Nascar used to race back to the start-finish line when the caution came out.  In other words, if there was a crash in turn four that brought out the caution and the leaders were on the backstretch, they would continue to race through the accident scene and back to the line as if it were the end of the race.  Most of the time the drivers slowed down and followed a so called “gentleman’s agreement”, but as you might imagine there were some exceptions.  One of those exceptions came whenever there were lapped cars right behind the leader.  They would use this opportunity to to unlap themselves by beating the leader (who was slowing down for the caution) back to the line.  Everything changed however following this incident involving Dale Jarrett at New Hampshire in September 2003. 

Nascar realized that racing back to the line was unsafe and started freezing the field at the moment of caution just like they do today.  A byproduct of this rule however was that there was now no way for lapped cars to get their lap back; so Nascar created the ”free pass” rule to give drivers who were a lap down some hope. 

I always hated the “free pass” rule.  I like to see drivers earn their laps back.  I also like it when it means something if you go a lap down early in a race instead of being able to rely on the crutch that is the ”free pass”.  At first this rule was somewhat tolerable because without it getting a lap back would have been nearly impossible after Nascar got rid of the racing back to the caution rule.  My feelings have changed however since Nascar went to double file restarts last summer.  

Now that Nascar has these double file restarts, lapped cars have another opportunity to get there lap back via the wave around rule.  It requires a bit of gambling for the lapped cars but it’s a way to get a lap back nonetheless. 

So now that going a lap down is no longer a death sentence, Nascar should can the ”free pass” and stop giving laps back like they’re candy on Halloween.  Last Sunday, 19 CARS, (19 FREAKING CARS!!!!!!!!!!) made up a lap via the wave around rule on the last caution.  Get rid of the “free pass” rule Nascar and force teams to gamble to get their lap back.   

Who’s with me?

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Ice Hockey – Men’s Gold Medal Game – Day 17 VANCOUVER, BC – FEBRUARY 28: Team Canada celebrates with their gold medals after winning the ice hockey men’s gold medal game between USA and Canada on day 17 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Canada Hockey Place on February 28, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Hey all.  Sorry I didn’t post about the race on Sunday, but to be honest with you I’m all Olympiced out right now.  I watched that amazing USA vs Canada hockey game yesterday then spent some time with the kids before bed, and then watched the closing ceremonies.  After all that I promptly fell aspleep on the couch and woke up just in time to crawl into bed and turn off the alarm.

I had every intention of watching the race after the closing ceremonies since I recorded it but oh well, it is what it is.

So I’m going to watch it today (Monday) and do my post then.  Thanks for your understanding.

Before I go I just want to share with you all a bit of a discussion that happened in the race day open thread (see last several comments) about SBN and motorsports coverage.

Based on that conversation tell me what you would like to see here at NASCAR RnR and what you would like to see added to SBN’s motorsport coverage?  I’d love to hear your ideas, I mean SBN is about the fans after all – you know “by the fans for the fans” and all.

Thanks.

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